Men's Track

Matt Kaczor was named Central Michigan’s associate head coach in June, 2013. He oversees the cross country program and the distance runners in the track & field program.

Kaczor, a former Central Michigan cross country and track & field student-athlete and captain of the 2004 Mid-American Conference-champion cross country team, joined the CMU coaching staff as an assistant under three-time Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year Jim Knapp in 2008.

Kaczor replaced long-time assistant track and field and head cross country coach Craig Fuller following Fuller’s retirement in 2008.

Since Kaczor took the reins of the cross country program in 2013, Chippewa runners have earned All-Mid-American Conference honors 11 times.

Under Kaczor’s leadership, CMU’s Nate Ghena earned First Team All-MAC honors in three consecutive seasons (2013-15), and Abbey Kelto broke a combined six school records in her senior year, 2014-15, and in the process became just the second female runner in Chippewa history to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

She also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field East Preliminary in the 10,000 meters that year.

Kelto holds the CMU indoor records in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, the outdoor 10,000 meter mark and the steeplechase record along with both the 5K and 6K cross country standards. She also earned All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, an honor that goes to student-athletes who achieve a grade point average of 3.25 or better and finish in the top 25 at the NCAA Regional, or earn All-America status at the National Championships.

Under Kaczor, both the men’s and the women’s cross country squads have been among the contenders annually at the MAC Championships. Both squads have finished third twice in Kaczor’s three years at the helm of the program.

Both CMU women’s cross country teams received All-Academic recognition from the USTFCCCA for its cumulative grade point averages in the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons, and the Chippewa men earned the honor in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

In 2015, the CMU women recorded a 3.51 GPA, the men a 3.49, which put them among the top 20 in the nation.

The Chippewas have earned 26 Academic All-MAC honors in Kaczor’s three years at the helm of the cross country program.

In all, seven CMU cross country and track & field records have been set since Kaczor joined the coaching staff and seven Chippewas have earned All-America honors in track & field since he came on board in 2008.

In 2010, CMU’s Raeanne Lohner became the first female in program history to earn Most Outstanding Performer at the MAC Outdoor Championships as she won both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.

Kaczor competed for the Chippewas in both track and cross country from 2001-04, and was part of four teams that captured MAC titles, three in cross country (2002-04) and one in track & field (2003). That 2003 squad delivered CMU its first MAC team championship in the sport.

He earned his degree in secondary education and history in 2005 and began his coaching career at Oakland, serving as an assistant coach for the Golden Grizzlies. While coaching at Oakland, Kaczor worked as an educator at the Academy of Oak Park - Mendota in Ferndale and has also taught in Troy.

Kaczor, a native of Freeland, and his wife Jill have two children, daughter Clara Dee, and son Ryan Matthew. He is a United States Track and Field Level I certified coach.